Guess Why a Cleveland Cop Got His Job Back

The police department tried to fire a Cleveland cop but the police union presented a winning defense.

A police officer got into a bar fight while drunk and, in the altercation, “lost” his badge and his official firearm. He waited days before reporting them missing. His supervisors attempted to fire him.

They failed.

A Federal arbitrator (why do we have a system where a Federal authority has jurisdiction in a local police disciplinary matter?) ruled that the cop must be reinstated.

One of the main arguments in his defense was that other cops had done far worse things and had been permitted to stay on the force. The police union lawyer made this argument in vivid detail. According to Cleveland.com:

“The officers cited in the other cases have committed assaults, domestic violence, theft, felony offenses, untruthfulness, and other violent crimes, and have been allowed to keep their jobs with the city,” the Cleveland Police Patrolmen’s Association argued in arbitration hearings.

one officer pulled his wife out of her car and fired off eight shots into it because he did not want her to get the car in a divorce settlement;

another got drunk and threatened his girlfriend with a shotgun;

another officer shot his gun “in a threatening manner” while intoxicated;

an officer pulled his gun during a drunken wedding fight;

a female officer smeared animal feces on her own apartment walls during a rent dispute, and told her landlord to pick her keys up at the department’s gun range;

another officer fled the scene of an accident after he hit a man on a motorcycle.

Well, by all means, let’s issue these people tax-payer funded firearms and set them loose onto the streets of Cleveland. Otherwise, how can we expect the citizens of greater Cleveland to feel safe or be protected from crime?

If you notice, most of these offenses could easily lead to jail time. They would certainly lead to criminal charges if you or I committed these acts. Nothing is said about anyone being prosecuted at all. Their “brothers in blue” look out for them.

Are there “good cops”? I assume so. There might even be some in Cleveland. But this is their work environment. People who do these kinds of things are their partners, their associates, and perhaps even their superiors. They are protected so that means there is no point in any good cops complaining or expecting the department to deal with their misbehavior.

If you are a good cop you are looking around for a way to transfer somewhere else.

And without in any way justifying some disgusting property violations committed by “protesters,” what do you think are the odds that some of these characters might treat racial minorities as inferior subjects?